


Finding Joshua

by Turret_ingTest



Category: half life but the ai is self aware
Genre: Gen, M/M, Mer AU, Original Characters - Freeform, Possible mild blood, Swearing, They/Themrey, cause yunno, loss of hand, mainly just to fill certain slots and will be background characters, not gonna fully commit to the finding nemo storyline and make the plot work with the characters, single father Gordos Feetman, siren au, yes this is definately Finding Nemo's plot but Hlvrai
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-24
Updated: 2020-08-14
Packaged: 2021-03-04 00:08:05
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 5
Words: 5,273
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24904345
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Turret_ingTest/pseuds/Turret_ingTest
Summary: Essentially this story will be Finding Nemo but with Sirens and the cast of Hlvrai. There will be background characters because there's not quite enough Hlvrai characters to fill certain spots. This is largely based off of Crackhead_Moss_Man's siren/mer AU and reverse AU. If any readers ever want to contact me about the fic my tumblr is also turret-tingtest. This will be the first fic I've ever offically posted so if you can be gentle with me. Another name I have for this fic is "Oops! All Fish" :D -Alias
Relationships: Benrey/Gordon Freeman, Bubby/Dr. Coomer (Half-Life)
Comments: 13
Kudos: 66





	1. Coral home, my home

For centuries, Sirens have roamed the seas of the Earth. These sea-dwelling creatures have a very long and rich history and have a fair amount of similar yet different cultures. In times far gone, sirens would often interact with the humans who ruled over the Earth's land, but in the Modern Era most Sirens wouldn't be caught dead by a human. As a result, Humanity labelled Sirens as mythical creatures and regulated only high ranking government officials to be aware of the Sirens' actual existence. 

Following the divide of the people who live on the land and in the sea, Sirens began changing their living patterns. Most sirens often prefer to live in small schools with around 5-6 sirens and 1-2 leviathans, but there is also a large amount of sirens who live in what is know as a "Reef". Reefs are a sort of city that a much larger group of sirens inhabit, with a force of dedicated leviathans that work together to both protect the Reef in general and prevent other Sirens from being discovered. Reef populations range from 30-40 sirens and around 10-15 leviathans.

Gordon Freeman was a case of a Siren who lived in a Reef. He lived a fairly comfortable life in the Reef with his son Joshua. He got along fairly well with his fellow reefmates, but Gordon was always on guard due to an incident following Joshua's birth. On that day, a massive attack on the Reef as a whole occured from an underwater submarine, full of human scientists and possible militia. Gordon had lost his partner in the attack, leaving him to raise Joshua alone. At first Gordon had wanted to leave with one of the schools that had broken away from the Reef, as a result of the attack, but Gordon ultimately made the decision that there was more safety in numbers and raised his only son on the Reef. Not to mention Gordon couldn't really bare the thought of leaving the place he had grown up in so soon in his adult life. Afterall, the leviathans had made sure that there were no human survivors of the attack and monitered the surrounding ocean to ensure no other humans knew of their location or were nearby. 

It's been around 7 years since the incident, because just a few days ago Gordon had celebrated Joshua's birthday with his friends. Gordon had slowly begun to move on from his old life and had quite well adjusted into the role of a "Overprotective Single Father". He was mainly just happy that he seemed to be raising Joshua fairly well despite his lack of a parent. Today, Gordon had been expecting to sleep in a little bit as he usually did. What he had not expected was to be tackled by his son. _Oh right._ Gordon thought. _Today is Joshie's first day of school._ Gordon rubbed the sleep from his eyes before reaching to give Joshua a hug. "You're up early. Too early I think." Gordon chuckled, as he gazed towards the window in the coral wall of his room, finding it near pitch black aside from the faint glow of bioluminescent fish nearby. The Reef was fairly far underwater, but not too much so that you couldn't see when the sun had finally risen. Aside from a few of the more nocturnal sirens mulling about, there wasn't much activity in the Reef at this time. As he looked back to Joshua, he was met with a pout. "I'm guessing I'm not gonna be able to get you back to sleep?" Joshua shook his head at Gordon's words. "Alright, then at least let me make breakfast." Gordon stretched his arms above his head as he let his Moray tail uncurl. Joshua hurried off towards what a human would call a "kitchen", after giving his Father a kiss on the cheek of course. Once his son was out of the room, Gordon felt the worries of the previous day rush into his head. Though it was tradition for sirens to start going to "school" at 7 years of age, he couldn't help but stress at the thought of Joshua being away from his side for so long. Gordon breathed out a sigh as he headed to make Joshua and himself breakfast.

Once the sun had finally risen, the small Moray siren family made there way to the school's designated meeting spot on the Reef. There were a few other sirens already there with their children, who were off playing as they waited for their teacher to arrive. Spotting a small grouping of three parents, Gordon swam towards them with Joshua in tow. The three other sirens were an octopus, a seahorse, and an angelfish, who were having a seemingly lighthearted conversation. As the Moray sirens approached, the angelfish looked up and smiled. "Hey, look who it is! Good to see you out Gordos!" "Gordan." The older Moray corrected, earning a chuckle from the other two sirens. "Hey, is this the spot where we're supposed to be to meet the teacher?" "Yes, I think he should be along soon enough." The Seahorse replied, before shooting a stern look over Gordon's shoulder. Gordon followed his eyes to see three younger sirens, likely the three sirens' children due to their anatomical similarities. The children were swimming mischeviously about, causing some sort of trouble. Joshua had also looked at the other kids, and in response tapped lightly on his father's arm to catch his attention. Gordon answered with a curt shake of his head and squeezed the hand of Joshua's that he held. Joshua frowned but his expression quickly changed when the three sirens' children rushed over, eager to meet their new classmate. They seemed pleasant enough until one of them bluntly spoke. "Why doesn't he speak?" The smaller octopus asked curiously. Joshua responded by freeing his hand from his father's grip and signing a message toward them liked his father taught him. The other children were confused, not understanding the meanings behind the gestures. Gordon was about to explain to the children before their attention was drawn by a cheerful, older voice. "Hello, students!"


	2. School is like schools for learning!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Dr. Coomer joins the fray!, Joshua learns an important lesson about peer pressure, and a slimy sea banana has a very bad, no good day. Also! I am writing this at 1 in the morning and will edit more once I wake up cause the iron is hot now.

"Hello, students!" A jovial voice called, causing the parents and most of the children to turn their heads towards the speaker. As Gordan turned to look, his eyes were met an older male siren with a very kind and pleasant face. The older siren looked to be a sort of shrimp siren, with a beautiful iridescent green shell. He was clasping his palms together as he slowly swam closer to greet the gathering of people, with his claws tucked neatly against his abdomen. The children quickly swam over to meet their new teacher with delight in their eyes that the shrimp siren reciprocated. Gordon swam over with Joshua in tow and held out his hand. "Hello sir, I'm Gordon Freeman and this is my son Joshua. I presume you are his new teacher?" The shrimp gave Gordan an eye crinkling smile and nod as he firmly shook his outstretched hand. "A pleasure to meet you, Gordan! I am Dr. Coomer, but please, call me Harold." Joshua politely moved to shake Dr. Coomer's hand as well, which the shrimp siren was more than happy to give. "And you must be Joshua, yes?" Joshua nodded happily, before beginning to sign with his hands. "He said it is nice to meet you and that he's excited for school." Gordan translated, recieving a chuckle from the teacher. "Oh Gordan, I know siren sign language. Though it is too bad hardly any of our reefmates have bothered to learn it." As Coomer finished, Gordan felt a bit of relief wash over him, as he no longer had to worry about miscommunication between Joshua and his teacher.

Just as Gordan began to relax a little, anxiety shot through him after Dr. Coomer began to leave with the kids. Taking a deep breath, Gordan held himself back from chasing after them as they swam away. "First time having your kid out of your sight?" A voice asked from behind him. Gordan turned to meet a near white, pale siren. They had striking yellow eyes and their body looked near transparent. They clasped a hand on Gordan's shoulder and gave it a comforting squeeze. "I know how it was when I first dropped off my little ones. But it gets better, I promise!" With that, they pat Gordan on the back and swam deep off into the reef. Gordan released a deep sigh and tried to think positive.

Meanwhile with the School, the kids and Dr. Coomer were swimming over the reef as Dr. Coomer spoke about various facts about sea life and aquatic life forms. Though the other kids had been slowly following behind, Joshua swam right next to Dr. Coomer, seemingly enthralled. This continued for a short while until the school stopped at a nice spot full of vegitation and loamy sand. If you looked out deep enough, you could barely see one of the levithans patrolling the outside to protect the reef. Joshua sat and listened to Coomer with the rest of his class for a bit, until he noticed the three sirens he had met before sneaking off. Curiously he followed them to a spot almost on the very edge of the reef. Once the three stopped, they noticed Joshua following them. "Oh hey, its the kid that doesn't talk." The angelfish said bluntly, earning a glare from Joshua. "Why'd you follow us?" The octopus asked, tilting their head with curiousity. Joshua shrugged in response. The seahorse paused in thought before looking out into the open ocean. "So, do you wanna hang out with us? Or are you not cool enough and wanna head back to hang with those losers back in learning town?" The seahorse spoke smugly. Joshua shook his head firmly, a daring look adorning his features. "Well if you wanna hang out with us, you gotta go touch that big rock and come back. Without the levithan stopping you. You up for the challenge?" Joshua sucked in a deep breath and nodded before slowly swimming farther from the reef, towards a dark shadowy rock that lingered on the surface of the water.

Despite his better judgement, Gordan found himself chasing after Dr. Coomer and the school. The moray couldn't manage to shake the sense of dread knawing away at his concious. Eventually he caught up with the class, who were learning about some sort of raised surface with a back. He locked eyes with Dr. Coomer as he nervously interupted, eyes scanning the class. Surprisingly, he found no trace of Joshua, which sent his heart rate through the roof. "H-hey Dr. Coomer, sorry to interupt your class but where is my son?" Gordan's words brought a look of shock onto the shrimps face, as he nervously scanned his students for Joshua and didn't find the small moray's freckled face. Suddenly, a small siren with a jellyfish like tail raised their hand and spoke. "I saw that kid sneak off with three others to go to the edge of the reef." Gordan's heart felt like it was going to burst out of his chest as he raced to the edge of the reef, with Dr. Coomer and the class following suit. He was met with the sight of Joshua, swimming alone in the open ocean towards a large, dark shape above the water. "Joshua, what are you doing?!" He shouted, catching Joshua's attention. Joshua turned and glanced backward, meeting Gordan's eyes. "Joshua, you know its not safe out there! Get back here right now." Joshua heard his three classmates begin to snicker and shot Gordan a defiant look before swimming faster toward the dark shape. "Joshua, stop!" The small moray was now underneath the dark shape. Gordan heard his heart beating violently in his ears. "Don't make one more move mister! Are you listening to me? Don't touch tha-" Gordan was cut off as Joshua pressed his palm against the bottom of the dark shape. It was cold to the touch and had odd ridges, Joshua mentally noted. Joshua heard his classmates gasp as he had touched the "rock" and began to swim back towards the group, awaiting his punishment from his father. Gordan folded his arms as he watched Joshua swim back. "You are in big trouble young man." He called. Gordan probanly would have said more if his heart didn't suddenly drop into his stomach as a glittering net dropped into the water, rapidly surrounding the small moray. The children of the class began to panic, attracting the attention of the nearby leviathan. As soon as Joshua had been trapped two dark figures dropped into the water and grabbed the net. One began to haul the net up as Gordan swam in a motrified panic towards them, ready to protect his son. The other who was not holding the net with the flailing young siren turned towards the open water where Gordan rocketed towards them, pulling out an oddly shaped weapon and firing it at the enraged siren. Gordan felt a sudden pain rip through his tail as a deep spike imbedded itself into him, tearing through his scales like they were made of kelp. Gordan felt lightheaded and dizzy from the impact, causing his vision to blur and movements to slow. He realized he was too late as the effect began to wear off on him. The remaining figure had climbed onto the massive dark shape, and suddenly the shape roared to life and began to speed off. "Gordan! Wait!" A voice shouted from behind him, but the moray ignored it as he bulleted as fast as he could after the shape despite the burning pain in his tail. Dr. Coomer, who had called after him, pursed his lip before chasing after Gordan. Dr. Coomer reasoned that he should follow Gordan so the leviathans can worry about the rest of the reef.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> My brain is rotting. Frogger and Stew Leonards haunt my mind. Also Mer AU go bbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbb. Denimsnake, if you're reading this thank you for the scorpy sub <3


	3. Into the Abyss

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After your son is abducted by a bunch of humans and put into a speeding boat, the logical conclusion is to chase after it. The only problem with that comes after chasing the boat for about an hour.(PS. I woke up to write this warning, the larger chunk of the chapter may contain a scenario where Gordon has a sort of panic attack, I just wanted to make sure there was a warning beforehand so that I do not upset people. I always say its better to warn first and have it be a false alarm later. The scene begins when Gordon curls up and ends at "thank you Dr. Coomer." Anyways, cheers and have a nice day (: )

Gordon didn't know how long he spent swimming, and honestly he didn't care. All he could hear was his heartbeat in his ears, all he could see was the boat just out of reach, and all he could feel was the adrenaline pumping through his veins. As he chased the boat, he failed to notice the sky begin to darken and the waves begin to churn. The waves began to toss the boat left and right as it tried to speed through the waves, jostling the crew on board. As the boat lurched, an employee suddenly lost grip on in his diving suit, sending it and its still attached oxygen tanks hurling straight into the water. Straight into the water and into Gordon's face. The dark fabric of the suit blinded him and wrapped around his head as the dense, metal oxygen tanks slammed into his skull. Gordon didn't have a chance to react as the darkness and tiredness latched on to his body and dragged him down, down, down. Eventually it consumed him, and he stopped struggling against it, letting his body go slack as his eyelids drooped shut. If Gordon had opened his eyes for a moment before he slipped into unconsciousness, he would have noticed the bio-luminescent figure descending toward him through the gaps of the suit that did not properly cover his face.

Harold had been following Gordon for quite some time, albeit falling a bit behind because Gordon and the motorboat had taken off without much time to react. By the time he had come close to catching up with Gordon, the storm had already brewed overhead, and Dr. Coomer only really managed to catch Gordon as he was struck by a falling object off of the boat. Coomer chased Gordon as he fell into the inky black of the deep sea, hands and claws reaching out to grasp the Moray and stop his further descent. Thinking on his swimmerets, Coomer pulled the Moray onto a nearby flat rock that hung over a deep, and somehow darker trench. He laid Gordon out on his back and carefully removed the diving suit covering his face, setting it to the side and inspecting the Moray for any damages. He seemed mostly unharmed, aside from the obvious exhaustion on his face and the purplish-green bruise forming on the center of his forehead. A solemn look crossed the Mantis shrimp's face as he looked back to where he had last saw the boat speeding away with Joshua inside, finding it gone without a bubble or wake left behind. He turned back towards his unconscious reefmate and gently took one of his open palms in his hand, grasping it firmly and carefully to not let it slip out of his grip. He lingered there beside him for a while, before a gentle whisper slipped through his lips. "I'm sorry."

The Moray awoke as he had fallen asleep, alone and surrounded by darkness. The ground was hard and uncomfortable underneath him, causing him to slowly sit up and rapidly blink his eyes. As his pupils dilated to let as much light in as possible, Gordon's vision of the inky black grew slightly clearer. It wasn't anything compared to his field of view in the bright blue ocean near the surface, but Gordon could at least see about twice the length of his tail in front of him. Beside himself laid a dark mound of material with two glimmering cylinders on top of it. Cautiously, the Moray reached out towards the mound, grasping the material in his hands and bringing it up to his face to examine it. The mound looked like the protective covering the two creatures that had taken his soon away had been wearing, albeit with a significant amount of tiny rips and tears littering the arms. Aside from the damage, the _shed skin?_ lacked any other distinctive features other than the cylinders and the strange design on the right breast. It was a simple orange circle with a partial trapezoid connected from the inside, with symbols of odd proportions below it. From what he could make out, it resembled no siren written language that Gordon knew of. He felt frustration begin to boil in his veins before he tossed the item aside, curling into himself on the rock beside it. He felt numb and terrified at the same time, raking a hand through his hair as tears pricked the corners of his eyes. Gordon sat there for what felt like an eternity, before a firm pressure wrapped itself around his shoulder. The Moray looked up to meet the eyes of Joshua's teacher, Dr. Coomer. "M-Mr. Coomer, what are you doing here?" Gordon managed to get out after staring sadly at the shrimp for a moment. "I was worried about you and Joshua." Coomer's reply was candid, yet remorseful. The mention of his son's name caused Gordon to tense up, but surprisingly the Moray found himself in Coomer's gentle embrace, his shoulder pressed against the Moray's head. Slowly, Gordon eased his body into the older siren's strong arms, tears flowing freely yet silently as a few breathless sobs escaped his mouth. The two remained that way until Gordon had calmed, the two sirens moving to face each other on the flat rock face. "Thank you, Dr. Coomer." "It was nothing Gordon, let us work on finding your son." The Moray felt his eyebrows raise at Coomer's words. "How? They're gone without any traces-" "They left something behind." The Mantis Shrimp cut in, gesturing to the dark mound Gordon had expected. "How does that help us? I couldn't understand anything on it." Gordon said, picking up the suit once more. Coomer gestured towards the symbols on the right breast and spoke. "I'm not able to read it but I know what this is. Its English. If we can manage to find a siren that knows how to read English, we can figure out who took your son." "What are we waiting for then? Lets go!" Gordon urged, grasping the older siren's forearm to pull him along as he swam away from the rock. The two didn't get far before a mischievous laugh sounded from underneath them and the suit was snatched from Gordon's hand.

\------(。-ω-)zzz-----

Joshua didn't know where he was anymore. The people who had grabbed him had put him in a tall container with water and covered it completely, leaving the young siren in near total darkness aside from a rip near the top that let in sun light, letting Joshua know which side was the top. He felt the water shake and slosh around him as the boat drove along, with a particularly bad spot of movement in the middle of the drive. Joshua had no idea where he was going, but he was terrified. Eventually, the boat slowed to a stop and the tarp was ripped away, temporarily blinding the young Moray. Joshua covered his face with his hands as his eyes tried to adjust to the sudden bright light. Before Joshua could properly adjust and look around, the water he was being held in was suddenly lifted and placed in a dark room, filled with other contained bits of water. Joshua let out a sigh as he was left in the dark alone, aside from the pair of eyes staring at him from afar.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Decided to have a nice Sarsaparilla night and write this chapter. Sorry its been a bit, been busy with college stuff. Since its been a while, I made it a bit of a longer chapter. I hope you enjoyed (: I'm going to take a nap now.


	4. Pspspspspsp here Frenrey fans

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The mysterious creature of the deep makes their apperance. And it is quite an experiance for Mr. Freeman.

As soon as the suit left his other hand, Gordon's eyes shot downward and the hand that grasped Dr. Coomer's forearm released. Looking below him, the Moray locked eyes with a pair of strangely yellow eyes. He could barely make out any details of the creature that had snatched the only remaining evidence of his son's disappearance, aside from its oddly glowy eyes, helmet, smirk, and recognisable siren body shape. "Yo, you want this?" The yellow eyed siren spoke, waving the suit in their hand in front of the two in a teasing manner. "Yes! Give it back!" Gordon lurched forward, grasping desperately for the suit. His fingertips barely brushed one of the sleeves before the other siren shot back. "Gotta be quicker than that, bro." The Moray felt himself begin to see red as he rushed forward again, only to be swiftly evaded once more. This began a cycle of Gordon desperately rushing forward and the stranger dodging to the side, which Dr. Coomer, who was watching the display from a safe distance, had to admit was quite amusing. 

The other siren's "game" with Gordon continued for a bit, until Gordon realised something. He was now surrounded by a coiling, massive, and scaley tail. As soon as he was clued in to what was going on, the tail suddenly clamped tightly around him. Now, what the other siren had probably expected to do was constrict Gordon, but the other siren had failed to notice a peculiar quality about the Moray. He was slippery. So, when the stranger's coils tightened around him, the Moray was rocketed headfirst into the other siren, sending both of them flying until they crashed on a somewhat flat outcropping in the undersea ravine. Gordon had expected a rather rough landing, but he found himself face first in a somewhat soft bit of ground. Raising himself onto his forearms, he found the ground to be slightly grey, possibly blue, and oddly fleshy. As a groan rippled through what Gordon had landed on, he finally realised what it actually was. Thinking on his fins, he lifted his head quickly to search for the other siren's hands. He spotted the suit loosely held in the others grasp, and latched on instantly, but as he tried to pull away the other siren wrapped their arm around his torso in a careful and secure manner that prevented the Moray from slipping away again, similar to the way one holds a bar of soap. "Let me go! Let me go and give that back!" Gordon squirmed, his tail thrashing behind him. "Nah bro, you totally don't have permission to have this. Where's your levithan?" The other siren had a bored look on their face. "My leviathan's at home and I found this on my own, now let go!" "Not gonna happen, this is uh, a dangerous piece of human weaponry. Can't let a wimpy siren like you hurt yourself with this again." "Shut up and- wait what the hell are you talking about?" "The massive bruise in the middle of your massive forehead, my dude." Gordon paused for a moment, the mention of his slight head injury processing a bit slower than everything else around him, but he soon snapped out of it and began fighting against the other's grip again. The other siren progressively began to become irritated, before exhaling a sigh. "Listen, I let you go on one condition." Gordon reduced his struggle to pay attention to the other siren. "I come with you. I'm a leviathan, so I can keep watch of you, bro. Make sure the little bastard eel doesn't hurt himself again." Gordon began to sputter, but took a deep breath and calmed himself. "Fine, fine! Just give it back and let me go." As Gordon agreed, the other siren released their grip on the suit and him. The Moray quickly swam backward, clutching the suit tightly to his chest. The levithan swam after him, keeping an arm's length away. Soon, Dr. Coomer joined the two, smiling his usual cheery grin. "Hello there! Who is your new friend, Gordon?" "They're not my friend, they're just this rand-" "If they're not your friend, why were the two of you tightly embracing?" Coomer smiled, a hint of playfulness in his tone. "I was- we were not- oh forget it." Gordon grumbled, crossing his arms. "Well, what's your name then, Leviathan?" The Eel's tone was snide as he spoke to the other siren. "Benrey." "Nice to meet you, Bipple!"

\-------且(´∀`*)------

Joshua didn't know how long he sat there before a sudden tapping behind him caught his attention. The little Moray turned around to meet a strange, yet familiar figure. They looked like a mix of one of the people who had put Joshua in this place, and a jellyfish siren. **'Who are you?'** Joshua signed, hoping the other would understand. To Joshua's surprise, they began to sign back. **'We are Forzen.'**

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As I am writing this I'm am eating a delicious bubger. I had to rewrite the middle bit like 5 times lmao. Anyway, I hope you enjoyed! (:


	5. The S. S. Sharp Teeth

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> With a new "friend" in tow, the adventure to find someone who can read human language begins. As it turns out, their translator's location turns out to be dangerous and quite odd.

"Well, since we're all introduced, let's get going." The Moray spoke, swimming away from the two other sirens. "Uh, Gordon? Where are you going?" Coomer asked, making Gordon turn around to face him. "Back to the Reef? There's so many different kinds of people there, at least someone has to know how to read this." The Eel gestured once more to the strange symbols on the diving suit for emphasis. "Do you even know how to get back there, bro?" Benrey cut in, causing Gordon to feel his heart drop. How long had he even been swimming for? The Moray was probably hours away from the Reef at least, and he had no clue what direction to even start swimming in. Sensing the awkward tension hanging in the water, the Leviathan cleared their throat. "Don't worry 'bout going all the way back there, I know someone who can read, uh," They raised their hand to point at the diving suit. "That." "Oh, that's wonderful! Can you please take us to see this friend of yours?" "Yeah, I can. For a price of course." That caught Gordon's attention. "What's this stupid damn price?" "You gotta say please, bro." The Moray felt himself grow angry. "Alright, please show us who can read this?" The Leviathan grinned a soft smile, exposing their sharp teeth. "Right this way." With that, the group of, now, three, swam off...

...towards an area filled with massive, yet blunt sea urchins strung to the seafloor by strange rope. In the middle of this area, was a sunken ship. The ship was massive and glowed in multicolored light shining from inside. "That's where they live." Benrey spoke as the three sat on the rocky ledge overlooking the scene. "How are we supposed to get there exactly? The place is surrounded by those, uhm, things." Gordon said, staring at the massive sea urchins. They dismissed him with a wave. "Don't worry, just don't touch 'em and you'll be fine." "What do you mean don"t touch them there's so many-" The Leviathan cut Gordon off by simply swimming directly towards the ship. Coomer shrugged and pat Gordon on the shoulder. "Doesn't this feel like a trap to you Dr. Coomer?" The mantis shrimp raised his eyebrow and pursed his lip in thought. "I highly doubt this is a trap of any kind Gordon, we literally just met them. But remember, there's no shame in staying back if you're scared Gordon!" "I'm not scared." "Then I'll meet you inside." Coomer smiled, before swimming off. Gordon lingered back, unsure of how to deal with the situation. Benrey was easily weaving between the ropes, their long tail trailing behind them, and Coomer found no difficulty swimming through the ropes either. Taking a deep breath, Gordon clutched the diving suit to his chest a swam forward.

The ship was almost as gaudy inside as it was out. Florescent corals hung from the ceilings in old chandeliers, fancy looking tables sat sideways on the floor, and seven or eight sirens were gathered in the main room. It had taken some time to follow the hallways into the main room, but as soon as the three entered they were met by another. They appeared to be a killer whale siren, but Gordon was surprised that they had seen his group enter in the first place due to the hair that hung in front of their eyes. "State the business, Oarfish." The orca wore a blank look as they crossed their arms. "Here to see you know who." The orca nodded and swam back to where they had assuredly came from, a small table with a game of poker occurring, motioning to the group to follow. "Oi, Bubbles, these people wanna talk with ye." "My name is not Bubbles! And tell 'em to come back tomorrow, I'm busy winning here!" An older siren sat holding cards, a stack of shells next to him on the table. "Not anymore." Another cut in, showing the Royal Flush in their hand to the table before sweeping all of the gathered shells on the table towards them. 'Bubby', threw their cards down in a huff before approaching the group. "What do you want now? I'm in the middle of something important." "My friend here needs a favor." Benrey pushed Gordon forward with their tail. "We are not-! Ugh, never mind." Gordon turned towards Bubby and held out the diving suit. "Can you read this?" The older siren took the suit from Gordon, who reluctantly let go, and adjusted the glasses on their face, likely taken from the ship. Bubby stared at the symbols on the suit in surprise before taking again. "Been a long while since I saw this name. It says, 'Black Mesa'."

\------->^)))<～～------

Joshua had been speaking back and forth with Forzen for a while, finding out stuff about Forzen themselves as well as the place they were being held in. Apparently, Forzen was a 'zooid', and had been trapped in the place know as 'Black Mesa' for a very long time. Forzen didn't remember much before coming there aside from their short time in the open ocean, but did say they missed 'The Irate Gamer' and 'Beyblades'.

 **'Well, since you're here, its time for the plan to begin.'** Forzen signed, much to Joshua's confusion. **'What plan?' 'The plan to escape this place.'**

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> In honor of Wayne's death, I return to repost this chapter that I thought I posted yesterday. Anyway, despite my technical difficulties, I hope you enjoy! (:

**Author's Note:**

> Please..... giveb me Zoopals plates and cutlery...... Zoopals makes eating fun.........AAAAAAAAAAAA


End file.
